Those who do the most harm to the church aren’t always those who fall from grace in an extravagant display of immorality, or those who come preaching another gospel. But often the worst fracturing is done by arrogance, wicked speech, and divisiveness slowly seeping into the fellowship of the church and breaking it apart.  ... Continue Reading

If we pray for the Spirit-enhanced eyes to see it, these dual typologies are pretty common in the Scriptures. Cain and Abel. David and Goliath. The tabernacle and the temple. The list could go on. These paired personalities or figures all teach us in tandem what the Lord has done for us. Like a double... Continue Reading

Gluttony is enslavement to our appetite. This sort of relationship is out of order. Paul says food is for the stomach and the stomach for food and both will be destroyed—meaning, both are temporal. It makes no sense, then, to elevate food or our hunger pangs to a place of authority over our wills. The... Continue Reading

It is cruel to misrepresent the terms of salvation to people. Yet that is exactly what happens when sinners are encouraged to “accept” Christ without due consideration of the necessity of repentance. That kind of false evangelism results in false conversion, and those who are thus victimized are deceived into thinking that they can have... Continue Reading

Dear friends, clues lead us forward to the next thing. And in theology a clue only goes so far. The designer of the Game must give us the meaning. He must, as it were, open our hearts to receive the things of the Gospel. This story demonstrates many things. It puts on display the man... Continue Reading

Yes, you are right to assume that previous eras were gravely flawed. You are correct to presume that the words and actions of individuals highlighted in missionary biographies sometimes show them to be products of their day. However, you are mistaken if you believe this makes them inferior to us. We too are affected by... Continue Reading

The impression you get early on that everybody forgot about the resurrection until the tail-end of the 20th Century New Testament studies is…Well, let’s just leave that can of worms half-opened and recall that Herman wrote this four centuries ago. For now, I’ll tell you go dig up Witsius. It’s really marvelous, biblical-theology and this... Continue Reading

Cranmer’s stress in this Collect is a major aspect of his thinking about Holy Scripture, namely its utterly vital importance as a touchstone of truth and wisdom as well as its unique usefulness as a means of grace. Here those who came to worship in the Reformed Church of England were being invited to learn... Continue Reading

The climax of this covenant renewal worship is communion around the Lord’s Table. Throughout Scripture (and, indeed, history), the ultimate expression of free and open access is being invited to sit at the table. This is illustrated throughout the Old Testament, it is pictured with the Table of Showbread in the Temple, and it is... Continue Reading

And every good and perfect gift we receive from God in the age to come, whether mansions and Maseratis or whatever else he has prepared for us, will be far better than those we’ve received and experienced in this life (1 Corinthians 2:9). But still, they will never compare with the Joy of joys, the... Continue Reading